2015 Doubles Select
Tournament
Well, we just finished our biggest Doubles Select Tournament
ever. The previous record for entries was blown out of the water this year with
56 participants, a terrific showing. Of the 27 matches that were scheduled to
play there was only 1 default, which for a doubles event is pretty darn good.
As usual, deadlines were stretched to “dead-when-evers” but in the end the draw
was completed just 6 days past the scheduled date. I can live with that.
We had zero chance of a back-to-back winner this year since,
strangely, neither of the two players who won the 2014 tournament registered.
Matching up 56 players into 28 “perfectly equal” teams did take me a little
more time than usual, and when I looked over the final list, there were not any
pairings that stood out to me as a favorite. A good sign. In fact, even as the
tournament progressed, there was not a team dominate enough that could earn
that status either.
The first 5 results that came in all went to 5 games. None
closer than the Greg Rivard and Jim Fair v Paul Flanagan and John
Conway. Any match that comes down to the sudden death rally in the 5th
game can’t be half bad, and at that stage it really is a roll of the dice to
determine the winner. Greg and Jim were fortunate enough to get through with
the 15-14 win, and then also scrape by in the next match by the skin of the
teeth 3-2 against Peter Shumaker and
Ian Edwards. By then, I think Jim
and Greg probably decided that winning in 5 games does not do much good for
their health and nerves, so they took care of business in the quarter final
over Joe Moran and Andy Housey 3-0.
Moving down the draw to the following quarter, the next
couple of 5-setters were coming in. Dane
Fossee and Jason Trombley did
what they could fend off the more experienced pair of Dave Walker and Bob Garvey.
Young legs and brave swinging carried them over the line but that is where it
ended abruptly for them. Peter Logan
stood firmly in their way and together with Jim Thompson, they were too strong. Peter of course has all the
experience and although his legs aren’t as young as Dane and Jason’s, they are
still just as active! In the quarter final however, Peter and Jim didn’t have
quite enough in the arsenal to counter the Jason
Currie and Terry Lang team.
Jason and Terry survived a first round scare against 2009 and 2011 winner Shail Arora and his partner Bruce Shaw squeaking by in 5, won round
two in 4, then conquered Logan / Thompson 3-1.
In the next quarter, there were close matches all round. Ken Katz and Craig Hupp were the ‘veterans’ of the group and as is customary for
Ken, he always comes to talk to me worried that he is in over his head, these
young guys are too fast, too fit… Ken is of course selling himself short and he
proved to himself that he in fact can hang and compete with them. He and Craig
won their first match 3-1 and then withstood and very close 5 set match against
Curt Pedersen and Josh Slominski, before steamrolling
their quarter final 3-0 over Rich
Stimson and Adam Pabarcus, the
only 3-0 result of the group.
The last quarter of the draw was a mixed bag of results. Colin Bayer and Steve Murphy somehow figured out how to beat Patrick Petz and Mike Rock,
but it took them 5 games to do it. They couldn’t figure out how to beat Frank Willard and Andrus McDonald though, and despite the fact that this was Andrus’
first time on the doubles court he seemed to pick up the angles fairly quickly
and he and Frank took the match 3-0. In the quarter final, Andrus may have
needed a little more experience than 1 match under his belt to triumph over Eric Green and Drew Creamer. Eric and Drew dropped only one game to win their
first 2 matches and need only 3 games to win this one.
As I said earlier, even at this stage of the draw, I could not pick a clear
stand out to win the tournament. There were 4 teams left and to me all of them
had a decent chance. Rivard / Fair
took on Currie / Lang. Jason would
be the runner of this foursome, but Greg had the power for his team. Jim and
Terry would hopefully provide the steadiness. Like many other matches no doubt,
it would be a matter of which team would be more reliable, keep it off the tin.
Jason and Terry accomplished the mission better on this day and were victorious
3-1 to move into the final.
Drew Creamer, Eric Green, Terry Lang, Jason Currie |
The second semi-final was Katz / Hupp v Green /
Creamer. Once again the veteran pair were up for the challenge and most
certainly had a set tactic in mind. Nevertheless, having a set strategy in your
head is not the same as executing it once you have stepped on court. Eric is
also quick to cover the court and knows where to put the ball. Drew can also
place the ball smartly. Ken and Craig held their own admirably, pushed their
opponents all match but just ended up short going down in four tough games.
The final had a very similar feel as the semis. No clear cut
favorite, I’m sure both teams went in believing they could definitely walk off
as champions. Both teams had won 4 matches to get there, the Green / Creamer
team had lost less games though, so if that was any indication…? It was a tight
match. Hard fought. It was also played at a time that was impossible for me to
witness any of it, so what I say here is all speculation, but I’m sure it’s no
exaggeration when I report that all 4 players played an exceptionally
competitive match in the best spirit of the game, diving from corner to corner,
cracking magnificent winners and flabbergasting all onlookers with their
sublime skill and sportsmanship… and by the time the last rally was finished
and the ball came to a dead stop, it was Eric
Green and Drew Creamer that
would take the honors of a 3-1 memorable victory that will be forever marked up
in The Squash Joint results page of the this blog and on the shirts that will
be personalized for them... What a privilege!